Sinclair issue 39 and the price of flour

I was walking through the Second Street Market when I stopped to have my weekly chat with my friend, artisan baker, Rahn Keucher. He told me in all his years of baking, a 50lb bag of flour has cost no more than $12 and he uses 6000 pounds a week. This week it was $24 a bag and next week it’s supposed to be $32 bag. He’s been holding his prices, but next week, they are going to go up- and he’s predicting his business is about to go down.

My egg lady had her prices at $2.25 up from $1.75 this week- her issue was the price of corn. Corn is skyrocketing too.

In my small business, my health insurance costs went up almost 40%, so we cut back the coverage and tightened our belts. I’ve got a customer arguing about a $250 invoice- times are tight.

Homes are being foreclosed on at a record rate in Montgomery County, jobs are in short supply, and here we have Sinclair Community College coming to ask us for a levy increase, while many of us are having a hard time deciding on filling up the tank or buying meat at the grocery store.

Keeping tuition low is a wonderful thing, but, right now it may be time to bite the bullet and raise tuition Sinclair, because until:

  • the war stops
  • banks pass the lower interest rates from Fed interest cuts to consumers
  • predatory lending stops (readers- you may not have a predatory loan, but it will affect you when your neighbors home forecloses- it’s affecting all of us)
  • companies start hiring again

It’s time Sinclair dug into it’s 14.4 million cash reserve,  ($120 million by this reporting) took out some low interest bonds (Sinclair is the only school in the state that is debt free) to fund your growth and raised tuition just a bit before coming to us for a tax increase.

And then, there is the issue of the Warren County expansion without charging them a tax, and the hiring of former State Reps and former Montgomery County Commissioners to help grease the skids with Government.

Sinclair has a responsibility to the people of Montgomery County- they are the investors who have made this happen. It is a slap in the face to the people of Montgomery County to see Sinclair spending a New York minute on expansion into Warren County.

I don’t care how many articles in the Dayton Daily News tout Sinclairs benefits and how the levy is needed (and that there isn’t any organized opposition)- it’s time to come back with a levy in Warren County- or a cessation of operation there, a firing of lobbyists, a small increase in tuition and a replacement levy- not a replacement plus.

These are not easy times for taxpayers, and it’s hard to turn Sinclair down, but with the price of flour and eggs going up, it’s time to remember we have to be able to afford to eat before we can afford to pay for a tax increase so tuition won’t have to go up or that Sinclair has to live within it’s budget.

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